Wall Street Closing

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, with the Dow closing above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007, as investors welcomed strong economic data. In U.S. economic news, the economy added 157,000 jobs last month. Meanwhile, the Census Bureau said that construction spending rose 0.9 percent in December, which was well above expectations. In international economic news, two separate purchasing managers' surveys on China showed manufacturing activity continued to expand in January, but painted a mixed picture on the pace of recovery. In corporate news, Exxon Mobil reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, but the company's energy production levels declined. Shares rose slightly. Merck shares declined after the company topped earnings expectations but gave a cautious outlook for 2013. Dell shares climbed almost 5 percent after a Reuters report said the PC maker is nearing a deal to go private as early as Monday. Google shares rose more than 2 percent, hitting an all-time high of $776.60. The dollar rose against the pound and the yen, but edged lower versus the euro. Light sweet crude oil for March delivery gained 28 cents to $97.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures climbed $8.60 to $1,670.60. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 149.21, or 1.08 percent, to 14,009.79. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 15.06, or 1.01 percent, to 1,513.17. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index moved up 36.97, or 1.18 percent, to 3,179.10